A Complicated Ever After
by CutewithAcapital-Q
Summary: Anyone else think there was just a GIANT gap between the two ending scenes of the Movie? Well here is my interpretation of what happened from the final moment in the tower to the reunion in the castle! Major spoilers!
1. Surprises

A Complicated Ever After

Chapter 1: Surprises

In shock and ecstasy Rapunzel threw her whole self over Eugene holding onto him tightly. And the next thing she knew she was putting her lips on his in a kiss.

"What are you doing!" her head screamed in surprise, "You don't know how to kiss! ...Not a boy, anyhow." But the joy of his living, not to mention the thrill of the kiss, overrode any anxiety for the task.

Eugene seemed perfectly capable in his abilities, and she gladly allowed him to take the lead, deepening the kiss. It was dizzying, the kiss made strange and wonderfully new feelings bubble up in her stomach and created an intoxicating euphoria. It was almost too much. She tried to clear her mind, but it was near impossible, so much had happened and so much was yet to come, she really began to hyperventilate, and broke the kiss, surfacing to catch her breath.

Her eyes opened, to a bemused Eugene, disappointed that the kiss had ended, and very weary, she was prepared for quip about dying taking a lot of out of someone, but instead he remained silent, only moving his hand slightly on her cheek to smear a tear away from her skin. She hadn't even realized she was still crying, until she blinked and water blurred her vision slightly. She moved her eyes around the tower. What had once felt like home, now she only saw a prison, thinking of the lies she had lived by…but then thought of the home awaiting her, and hope renewed her soul. One more deep breath and then Rapunzel suggested, "We should go," Jumping to her feet, a bit too quickly. Her balance was more off center then usual, she wobbled in a circle long enough to catch a glimpse of herself in the shattered mirror, momentarily not recognizing the brunette in her dress. And from there she her eyes followed the brown snake of hair, lying still on the floor, s-curving its way up to Eugene.

Rapunzel's eyes grew wider then Eugene had ever seen, as she wheezed out, "Oh my gosh…my hair."

"'punzel? You alright?" Eugene groaned, hesitantly lumbering up to his feet, impeded by the iron cuff connected to the wall.

"Yeah…yeah," she replied, literally feeling light-headed, as the world spun rapidly for mere moments, then black.

So what do you think? I've been publishing this on DeviantArt and everyone there has been very kind so I'd like to know what you fishies in this pond think! I hope you all like this first little snippet of the story I'll be posting uniformly every weekend if I can stay ahead of the posting and writing like I have so far! Please review and hugs will be distributed amongst those that do!

Disclaimer: Begrudgingly I deny any claim over these darling characters Disney has blessed us with! Eugene/Flynn and Rapunzel do not belong to me.


	2. Good News and New Adventures

Second installment I hope I continue to please! Please review!

A Complicated Ever After

Chapter 2: Good News and New Adventures

"Rapunzel…Rapunzel...Rapunzel, wake up." Times like these Eugene wished he had magical tears and what not, to revive people, as he tried to support the unconscious girl in his arms. She finally opened her eyes.

"Wha…What Happened?" She asked, confused and pouting.

"You, eh, saw your hair and well, you lost consciousness."

"Oh, right," She said disappointed, perhaps hoping that had been a bad dream. Eugene her to her feet, which was a big mistake, because he set her back in front of the mirror.

"Di-did you really have to cut it this short?" she asked forlornly, while he tampered with the restraints.

"Wha—I—are you kiddi—I was Dying!"

"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She relapsed, in shame, "It's just hair, I know," she rambled bashfully, and in hurried motion she knelt down to help him escape the cuffs, "Really it's not the hair it's the change…. _everything_ is different." She concluded quietly, as the brace released.

"You gonna be okay?" Eugene asked in earnest, putting a hand on her shoulder. She breathed in relief, remembering not all changes were a bad thing.

"Yes."

"Good, get anything you want to take with you," Eugene instructed, "By now a whole army must be after me," in a tone that couldn't hide that he was slightly pleased with himself at the thought, "We ought to get as far from the palace as possible."

"No! We've got to go back!" She begged.

"Blondie, I single-handedly escaped the gallows," He may have been embellishing slightly, "I know, for someone who should have extremely limited people skills, you're oddly_ very_ charming, but there's no way you're going to convince an entire kingdom I should go free."

"Not if I'm one of them," She replied brightly.

"Huh?" Eugene stopped, and stared, his brow furrowed in dumbstruck confusion.

"Eugene, it's me, I'm the lost princess," She explained happily, but nervous.

"WHAT!"

"You're freaking out again," Rapunzel bit her lip in worry.

"A girl with a frog and frying pan holds me hostage, alright. Oh, she's got magical hair, that's cool. She's been locked away from the outside world for eighteen years, sure…But you're telling me, I just brought the missing princess, the ultimate pardon, back within walking distance of the palace, and I don't get to freak out!"

" 'The ultimate pardon'?" Rapunzel said with breathless shock.

"What? No, Rapunzel, no," Eugene hit his palm up to his face, "That's not it at all. I'm just cranky," He explained, then muttering, "Spending the night in jail…and dying, though that's a new one."

"You went to jail last night-"

"A thief in jail, big whoop," Eugene cut her off quickly, "You're a princess. How on earth could you have come to that conclusion?"

"I, well, I don't know. I guess, all at once I realized everything, all the strange coincidences, the mosaic in town, all my art, the tiara, the lanterns; I should have noticed as soon as you said they were for the lost princess, on _my birthday_, don't you see, they really were for me!" she said suddenly touched by a whole new sentiment, "Can you believe it?"

"That you're a princess, of course," he said with a nonchalant shrug and a smile that made Rapunzel feel like the luckiest girl ever. Though beneath the smile Eugene's guts twisted, wondering where he would stand in her new life. He'd meant what he said earlier, her being his dream and all. Until she said anything, he had a whole plan set out, leave the kingdom, go straight, get a job (He slightly scoffed at the man he was turning into to even entertain that notion). Theoretically, he could still do all those things, but it wouldn't be the same.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel squealed, pulling Eugene from his thoughts. She rushed toward the poor little lizard, lying still on the ground. Rapunzel picked him up gingerly.

"Is he alright?"Eugene asked wincing for the worst.

"I think so," she said carefully, holding the chameleon up to her ear hoping for a sign of life, and sighed in contentment, "He'll be fine, just needs rest and keep him warm."

"Well, Blondie you've got you're frog, get you frying pan and let's get you home."

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><p>Rapunzel did, indeed, grab her frying pan and they were off. Everything else seemed kind of trivial to take. Her clothes hardly varied from what she already wore, her belongings were scarce and were not of much sentimental value to bother carrying. She did, however make the effort to pick up her paint brushes, before meeting Eugene back at the window, where he was knotting her hair to the post, to descend the tower for the last time. She eyed the makeshift rope, feeling strange to see her hair, something she had been so conscious of her whole life, functioning separate from herself.<p>

"Can we take it with us, actually?" she asked in a small voice.

"Hmm?"

"My-my hair, could we bring it with us?"

"Yeah, sure," Eugene easily agreed, re-rigging the hair to a pulley system, feeling somewhat guilty for the lack of it remaining on her head, but followed up with a cheeky grin, "What ever you want, Princess. Ready to go?"

The new nickname made her blush and giggle, nodding as she packed away her things into a satchel (As well as securely placing the resting Pascal inside for the ride down), and then slinging it over her shoulder. Eugene helped her tip-top over the broken shards of mirror, minding her bare feet. He hopped up to the window sill, and leaned out, holding Rapunzel's hair like a sailor hanging on the rigging loudly and called out, "Hey Max! Get your butt over here!"

"Maximus is here?" Rapunzel gushed, excited to be reunited with another one of her new friends.

"'Course, couldn't imagine getting down here half as fast without him,"Eugene rolled his eyes, wrapping the hair securely around his wrist, tugging it one last time just in case.

"I'll see you down there," He nodded quickly, before leaping brashly off the window sill. As he disappeared below Rapunzel leaned down over the spot he'd just stood, and watched in admiration as he slid down the line, and dropping onto the perfectly positioned horse. (The little show-off)

She grabbed onto her detached locks, but then back away slightly from the window. This was the second time in such short while that Rapunzel found herself clutching her hair tentatively considering the implications of leaving behind everything she'd ever known.

Meanwhile, settled in the saddle, below, Eugene looked up, and motioned expectantly for her descent. Far away he caught a glimpse of her silhouette, watching over him, and the she disappeared into the tower. Slightly confused, Maximus and Eugene exchanged looks, then quickly returned their eyes to the tower just in time to see the sun stream off the (now brown) hair swaying vigorously in the air, and the girl attached to it shrieking with reckless abandon, bounding out the window, swinging, and spiraling with agile precision down through the air. Her skirt flowed out behind her, as she neared the end of the brown strands. In a single move she separated and released one end of the hair and cannon-balled down, aiming for her hero and his stead below, her life line now rippling after her like a ribbon of silk. (That little Show off!)

Beneath, however, Eugene and Max worked together, frantically re-centering themselves to catch the fool-hardy princess, the horse sidestepping and backing up, to match the young man's outstretched arms leaning this way and that, as she fell closer and closer.

She landed, luckily, in a cradle of his arms, grinning ear to ear up at the man who had saved her twice in one day. Just as she decided it had been much too long since their last kiss, a huge shadow loomed over them suddenly.

When Rapunzel landed they forgot to take into account the hair slipping off the hook high above, and now plummeting down to earth, in heaps. Before they even had time to look up, it tumbled down, draping them in chestnut locks. Max stumbled under the sudden increasing in weight, but regained his composure by moving out of the line of fire. Layer upon layer it fell, in a rippling pile, like frosting on a cake. Rapunzel, giggling, reached out and parted her hair to uncover Eugene's chagrin.

"Are you alright?" she asked smiling sympathetically, as it seemed he had received most of the hit. He stared at her and blew the hair out of his mouth.

"Perfect," He supposed he was just going to have to accept that, as long as he was with Rapunzel, weird things like this were bound to happen. The look in her eyes also told him that good things would happen, too. She leaned in sweetly again, and without interruption commenced another kiss.

It was official, this was her most favorite of all the new discoveries she had made in these last few days. Rapunzel was even becoming a little more partial to her new hair, when Eugene placed his hands softly at the base of the her checks his calloused fingers grazed the back of her newly exposed neck.

Maximus, however, seemed to hold different sentiment for the intimate moment. He impatiently stomped a foot, as if to tell them his saddle was not to be treated like the dark backseat of a village cabbie. The two separated and looked over at the horse, Rapunzel hopelessly embarrassed, and Eugene giving Max the stink eye behind her.

The mood effectively ended, Rapunzel began the task of collecting her hair into a lasso around her arm, dis-draping Eugene and herself. Planning to pack as much of the stuff in the satchel, she opened it to find a pleasant surprise. Pascal had recovered, and was sleepily blinked in the sunlight.

"Pascal!" She cried out with cheerfully, and the expressive little lizard, began to return the greeting, until his mouth dropped wide in realization of her new look. Self consciously Rapunzel bit her lip and asked in a whisper, "Is it alright?"

The lizard pawed the satchel tentatively in deliberation, then scurried up Rapunzel's arm all the way up to the top of her brow, to examine the cut from a different angle. Ultimately, he squeaked his approval, and nuzzled contently in to her hair line. Suddenly Rapunzel's composure relaxed immensely. Eugene rolled his eyes; the frog's opinion apparently was the final say.

Together, they gathered the rest of the hair and arranged it as best they could to fit on the horse, somehow. Without further delay, Eugene spurred Maximus into a gallop, and Rapunzel watched her tower retreat, until they passed through the cave and it was out of sight forever.


	3. Hopeless

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Silence. Utter and complete silence. Normally, Eugene would have welcomed the peace and quiet. Considered it a treat at the orphanage, not to mention his median of choice as a thief, however, two straight days of chaos, and Rapunzel's gregarious nature seemed to have altered the preference. He eyed the strangely quiet girl, sitting sidesaddle in front of him. She seemed to have gone into mode of silent contemplation twiddling with some of her detached hair in her lap. He frowned helplessly; girls had never been his forte, especially not girls like Rapunzel, anyway. He was a bit of a bookworm growing up (Dabbling in the occasional game of pirates, as boys would), and the orphanage was not a particularly ideal place for relationships of any kind to grow, for two reasons. The first reason was circumstance. The Orphanage was a place where children were in a continuous cycle around him, he was a member of what he liked to call the Orphanage's "7-up Club". Statistically speaking, the longer a child spent at the Orphanage the more likely it became that they'd stay there, seven months, Eugene had observed, was mostly the point of no return. Anyway, because of this constant rotation of companions, relationships were never truly formed, and even the hand full of other 7-up members weren't very close at all, they were too much in denial.

The other reason, the orphanage had ruined girls for Eugene was Eloise Migchins, he shuddered thinking about it to the day. She was a rather plump little girl, as sickeningly sweet and innocent as a sugar-coated kitten when supervised by the adults, but out of range on the play grounds, she became the most vindictive nasty creature Eugene had ever encountered (And that included Rapunzel's "mother", an ugly old croon who's idea of good first impressions was a knife in the side). She stole snacks, seldom given desserts, possessions, and was particularly fond of pushing anyone smaller then her (i.e. Eugene) in the dirt, he was informed later that was the way little girls signal their interest in boys, Eugene thought it was a highly ineffective tactic. He would have tolerated this as long as he could—new orphans tended to lash out one way or another—had the story not taken this turn for the worst. One day, while minding his own business, reading, she approached him and using some ridiculous logic that only a seven year old could create, she declared him her boyfriend, and that meant he had to do everything she told him to, because he loved her more then life itself. She was quite surprised when Eugene declined the offer at first, but her fists were very convincing. It was the worst month and a half of his life. Their pseudo-relationship only ended when an even scrawnier boy came along. By snacktime, that day, Eloise had announced publicly that she was dumping him for the poor sucker. This embarrassment also ended any of the few and fragile friendships Eugene had at all (meaning he would be forced to play pirates alone). As a result he made up his mind, girls stunk.

That didn't last very long, Eugene thought back in retrospect, with a goofy smirk. At sixteen. when he finally left the orphanage, he was a fresh-faced go getter, with a new name and a new life. He spent his time honing his abilities as a thief, and exercising his new persona, Flynn Rider-certified ladies' man. The next few years were those in which he invented such moves as the "Hiiy," and the _smolder_, charming acts that were used solely for the purpose of getting what he wanted. However these ploys were merely targeted toward small-minded girls, never head-strong little spitfires, and from fairly recent experience none of that was at all applicable to the one he was with right now…unless he wanted a frying pan to the face.

But Eugene had never been one to sit by passively; he at least had to get her mind off the hair. After some quick strategizing, he slid his arms to encompass her waist and his hands on the reins enveloped hers, his fingers replacing the soft locks that intertwined in hers. Pulled out of her thoughts by the touch, a strange light rekindled her green eyes that met his, and she leaned her head at the crook of his shoulder, preparing to speak her mind. Maybe he wasn't hopeless.


	4. Obstacles Ahead

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"Do you think it will grow back?"

Perhaps ending the silence was a mistake. Eugene nearly forgotten the first five hours of their previous road trip, consisting of Rapunzel's drastic mood swings, her giggling euphoria, and then suddenly scrunched into the fetal position.

He was a little surprised that she was still on the whole hair thing. So many more important events had happened, he wondered if she was avoiding them by focusing her attentions on her hair. He decided to humor her; the rest would come out in time he rationalized.

"Sure, why wouldn't it?"

"Well, there was that one strand from before I can even remember, that was brown and never grew."

"Huh," He contemplated for a moment, "maybe the magic was all or nothing. You had to cut it all off before it could start growing normally again."

"Perhaps," She said unconvinced. He hunched down to place his chin on her free shoulder. The other was occupied by the snoozing chameleon.

"I like it," he said softly in her ear, "I don't care if it ever grows back."

She leaned into his voice, which tickled her neck, unable to control the grin forming on her face.

"Easy for you to say, you did it."

"No, honestly, I say good riddance. I mean, your hair had its cool points, but you have to admit there were flaws to having seven flights of hair."

"You get used to it." She replied weakly.

"Come on, all that weight, all that brushing, the pressure to keep it magical. You must be kind of relieved you don't have to worry about it."

"Well since you're all for chopping off hair," she began, pulling her hand out of his grasp gently then softly tugged at his chin hair, "how about shaving this…what exactly do you call it?" she asked as an after thought, not as a biting joke, but honestly ignorant of the correct word. All the same, Eugene was not pleased to hear Maximus snicker beneath him.

"It's a—" he cut short, then mumbled embarrassed, "well it was supposed to be a goatee, this is all that came in. Regardless of what it is, my scruff does not impede my lifestyle. In fact it helped, every last hair."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Every respectable thief has hair on their face." he said smugly.

"Firstly, I don't think there is anything respectable about theft," Rapunzel said, drawing from what she had read on all those wanted posters with Eugene's incorrectly drawn face, "And second, you don't plan to continue now, do you?" she finished, unsure she'd get an answer she'd like. She was now remembering the night previous, watching Eugene sail away on that boat.

"Well, I shouldn't think so." He said, unknowingly reassuring her, "But this is going to become a thing, just you watch. The scruff stays," he resolved, grabbing her hand off his face, as if she held a blade to his neck that moment.

"My hair was not a hindrance, though. If I remember correctly, it saved us on many occasions," She said haughtily.

""Of course it did," he agreed, "But you were the one in control of it, your hair was only a small piece of you," to bring his point home, from the bottom of his heart, a place long buried and hidden, he said, "What I mean is you have so much more to offer then just your hair."

Then she beamed, with more brilliance then her hair ever mustered, and nuzzled deeper into the crook of his shoulder.

"And I do like you 'scruff'," she admitted happily.

"Oh, you do?" He grinned sneakily.

"Yes," she clarified, a little confused.

"Then kiss it!"

"What? Ew no!" she exclaimed, as he impressed his chin upon her cheek, and she pushed her palm into his nose.

"Ha ha stop, n oEugene," She continued to writhe, breathlessly. Her laughter held his attention from the rustling in the bushes around them; little did they know enemies' eyes watched in the shadows.

Another scream of laughter came from Rapunzel, then and mass lept out into the trail before them and Rapunzel ceased every noise she was making.

"Let the girl go, you!" It was Eugene's favorite rival, second favorite, really, Max was his first, but they seemed on rather good terms for the time being. The Captain of the guards, seated importantly on an equally pompous mare with a beige coat, was blocking their way, "I repeat, Rider, I've got you surrounded now release the girl, and surrender," he said gruffly and calmly, snapping his fingers signaling archers who cropped up from the bushes around them, "Really Rider, give it up. You know, I'm surprised to know what's gotten into you, you manage to escape the gallows, kidnap a young lady, and then walk straight to your capture, all within the morning."

"What can I say? Except, well, how embarrassing it must be for you that you can't catch an idiot like me?"Eugene was regressing into Flynn in face of the Captain.

Not amused the Captain turned his attention to Rapunzel, "Miss, you're quite safe now. I order you release her, Rider."

Eugene didn't know whether to laugh out loud, or be shivering in his boots. They actually thought Rapunzel, the same girl they were pursuing the day before as his accomplice, was some poor damsel in distress, probably mistaking her laughter for cries for help. He and Rapunzel simply stayed frozen, dumbstruck, staring at their foe.

Rapunzel was just as lost as Eugene; she knew leaving him was not an option. She cringed away from the Captain's order, sliding her hands over Eugene's arm around her waist, and pulled it tighter around her, wordlessly telling him to hold her securely in place. The motion did not escape the Captain's acute attention. He observed her again and then noticed the piles of hair on their stead's backside.

"Ahhah, thought you could fool me?" He laughed in a snort, "Here's a tip for the next time you hope to change your hair as not to be recognized. Leave the evidence behind." He continued to laugh, though his men did not seem to get the joke either, he stopped then looked menacingly upon them all until the guards joined in a chorus of manufactured amusement., "Well, no matter, a matching noose can be arranged."

'Great, now they were both in trouble,'Eugene thought rolling his eyes.

"Eugene," Rapunzel whispered, "should we tell them about me?"

"No," he hissed back, the wheels in his head turning to get them out of this one, "fat chance they'd believe you, anyway."

"Then, what do we do?"

"Take your hair and tie it to the reigns," he told her, slipping his hand into the satchel, feeling for the frying pan.

"What are you thinking?" she obliged, regardless of the command's lack of sense.

"I'll tell you when I've come up with it," he replied, grasping the pan handle firmly, "Hold on," he then commanded, before spurring Maximus in to a gallop. They lept over bushes in an empty spot between their captors. Arrows whizzed pasted them, and Eugene used the pan to deflect the more accurate aims. They weaved agilely through the forest, dodging trees and jumping logs, in effort to shake the guards. They ventured deeper and deeper into the through the un-treaded brush.

"Blondie, your hair tied to the reigns?"

"Yeah, but Eugene their gaining on u-"

"Good," he ran over her words, shifting the pile of hair off of Max and on to the forest floor, it unraveled into a tail behind them.

"What are you doing! Do you want them to follow us?" Rapunzel cried out, grabbing on to her hair in an effort to pull it back.

"I want them to follow Max, we're getting off here."

"What?"

"Max'll lead them off our trail long enough to get us to the kingdom, they'll follow your hair."

"So you want to jump off a horse at full speed, are you crazy!"

"Yes," He said resolutely confirming the accusation, "do you trust me?"

"I-," Rapunzel wasn't exactly sure about the leaving her hair behind like that, but, "Of course."

"Great," Eugene said in a rush checking if their pursuers could see them, "you see that branch? That's your target," He pointed to an over hanging tree limb in the distance.

"Okay," she said, unconsciously grasping her hair tighter.

"I'll help you stand up. Rapunzel, let go of your hair," He said, not even noticing the figurative quality of his words.

"Huh? Right," she said distractedly, then forced her hands to drop the line of hair; a rush of adrenaline thrilled her with the act. Shaking with nervous excitement, she maneuvered to stand up on to the saddle. Eugene held her steady and she focused intently on her respective branch, trying not to notice how high above it was.

Maximus charged on, at full speed, and Eugene counted down, as the target neared. Just as Eugene called out "jump!" and the branch passed overhead, she sprang into the air grasping to the limb.

Eugene breathed easy as she was firmly attached to the branch, swinging to climb into the tree, "Give 'em hell, Max," he told the horse, who whinnied in wicked agreement. He put the satchel over his shoulder then crouched into the ready position on the saddle acquiring a branch. Up he shot into the tree, clambering into the leaves, though his female counterpart was having a little more trouble.

Rapunzel couldn't get the leverage to swing onto the branch. If she wasn't in that tree soon, she would be seen for sure and their plan would be foiled. Eugene hurriedly sought a path of branches to help her. He hopped and jumped and swung through leaves and twigs, racing the thunderous hooves of the approaching guards.

"Rapunzel!"Eugene called out, just as she finally gotten her leg up over the branch. He stretched out to her from the branch above. She threw up her small hand, they caught each others' wrists, and Eugene drew her up quickly. Her foot disappeared into the leaves just as the mob rounded the corner, following the line of brown hair just as intended. Rapunzel in an embrace between him and the tree trunk, shielding her from sight, while the guards trampled the ground below. The noise faded, Eugene swiveled his head from hunched over the princess to see the plan had worked, Rapunzel peeking over his protective arms, and Pascal over her shoulder, as well. They disappeared into the brush and were nearly silent now; the two knew they were safe.


	5. It's all setting In

Hi everyone! This is chapter 5! I'm so excited! thanks to everyone who's following this!

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><p>Their eyes met for a moment in this shared relief, their noses centimeters apart. And they laughed, with uncontrollable gaiety, until their sides hurt and even then continued on. One of Eugene's arms collapsed in his hysterics, freeing Rapunzel from the cage it had created. She placed a hand on his shoulder and the other one the rough bark of the tree for support. Their glee subsided to sporadic small chuckles, as the caught their breath and swiped water from their eyes.<p>

"That was actually fun!" Rapunzel finally said.

"You see, this would have been our lives all the time," He said, with feigned longing, taking a careful seat on the branch, looking out at the view of the tree's canopy, "but then you had to go and find out you're royalty."

"What can I say? I'm sorry I'm a princess?" She said, sidling down next to him, matching his sarcasm.

"Well, It'll take some time, but I think I'll be able to forgive you." He said and shot her a cheeky smile, hiding the anxiety.

"So what do we do now? How are we getting out of this tree?" She said with curiosity, looking around, letting her legs dangle and swing.

"Oh, yeah, we have to get down,"Eugene said, the thought just occurring to him.

"Your plan included climbing up a tree. I'd have thought you'd consider how to get down!"

"Minor details!"Eugene exclaimed, waving off the accusation, pretending it wasn't the truth, and then saved himself, "We've been in worse situations, we almost drowned after our last scrimmage with those guys, I think this is a huge improvement, besides if we get down now we won't know which way to go. Pascal, you think you can help us out."

Pascal nodded diligently from Rapunzel's shoulder and pounced unto the trunk, then scurried vertically to the top. The couple seated on the branch followed him with their eyes until he was out of sight. Rapunzel's eyes stayed focused on spot where her friend had exited, though Eugene's wandered back to her profile.

He was slightly pleased with their situation. The encounter with the guards had set them back at least twice the distance they had covered since morning, and without Maximus it would be a decent walk back to the palace. Certainly he didn't intend to dawdle, he trusted Max to keep those nitwits busy for good while, but getting to the kingdom first was priority. This also didn't mean that he wasn't going to enjoy the time he'd been given to spend with Rapunzel. Who knew when they'd be together like this again? He wasn't going to pretend to know anything about how royalty functioned, but he was almost positive princesses were not allowed to spend this much time alone with a man let alone a thief, reformed or otherwise. That is if they kept him around at all.

Suddenly, his mind wandered to visions of possible doom, just now realizing what going back to the kingdom could mean for him. He saw the king and queen embracing their daughter lovingly, giving Eugene a courteous pat on the back, and then promptly throwing him out of the kingdom, or worse into the noose.

Okay, admittedly, that was a little over dramatic, King Henric and Queen Leanora were renowned for their compassion, and that coupled with the whole bringing the lost princess home could probably get him out of the noose. Though exile, and or just plain incarceration, were still outcomes to consider, and still ones that did not include being with Rapunzel. Moving past that, there were even worse punishments than being ousted by his deeds. What if they pardoned his crimes, which would be great, and say they saw how he had reformed from his prior lifestyle, so maybe even what if they even took him in, in their gratitude, probably a dream come true…and then living in this palace!...he'd have to watch Rapunzel, a princess, meet all new exciting people of court, _princes._ Eugene's eye twitched with agitation at the hypothetical princes whom Rapunzel took notice to.

The real Rapunzel averted her gaze from Pascal to him. She met his gaze and smiled a small content smile, then shuffled closer on the limb to lean her head lightly on his arm. He should really give her more credit then that, without feeling too conceited he could honestly believe all of his feelings were reciprocated. It was a pretty easy assumption seeing as they both had just about the same amount of experience with said feelings. The point was he trusted her more then to drop him for some prince (at least until she realized she was too good for him, which was an entirely separate bag of apples)…But what if there was no choice? Eugene was sure there must have been enough policies and traditions to keep them apart, no matter what anybody felt about anything…And that would be the most painful of all possibilities, watching her, the one person he had cared this much about, ever, become somebody else's.

No. This time would not go wasted.

If it was up to him, they would leave behind the dangers of this kingdom, and start anew, and he could keep her to himself. That was all wrong though, it almost as bad as her "mother's" motives. Looking at her, he knew he wanted her to have everything she deserved, a family, and a life of freedom, and most of all happiness.

She looked up again, into his eyes. Hers were so vibrantly green, so soft, so…beautiful, more so then any emerald he had captured. Though it seemed the ideal chance, they wordlessly agreed that this was a moment all too picturesque to be the prelude to another kiss. They merely stared, enthralled by each other.

To Pascal, this simply looked like they were about to eat each other's faces, literally. Naturally, he felt the need to cut in. He jumped up from the tree trunk and stuck a perfect landing on Rapunzel's shoulder. She gasped softly at the surprise. And they both looked over at their scaly companion. Pleased with his effect, he dutifully reported the direction of the castle.

"Well," Rapunzel said, "Now we know the way to the kingdom, there still remains the matter of getting out of this tree," She smiled slyly over to Eugene.

"You want to get out of this tree? I'll get you out of this tree!"Eugene said, taking up her challenge, and then searched for the way down, "Ahha, follow me!"

He held onto the branch where he sat, then hopped down so he hung off the edge. He caught his toe on the limb below; he released his hold on the above branch, and landed taking a moment to ensure his balance. Again he gestured up to Rapunzel, who slipped slowly out of her seat, so she swung freely down. She was so much shorter then Eugene, however, that her feet dangled, kicking and running on the air, unable to touch the branch. Eugene stepped over to help her down, but her wriggling impeded them both. As he steadied her on the waist, she released the branch, a little too soon, her feet landed on the branch unevenly, and she began to fall backwards.

"Eugene!" She squealed, grabbing onto his vest, in vain.

"Blondie, no!" he exclaimed as he fell right with her. Off the branch they tumbled, and in one last effort,Eugene latched onto another branch lower down the trunk, by a hand, but the weight of the two of them combined was too much strain on one arm. Even with Pascal on the branch trying to help pull them up,Eugene's fingers slid. In free fall again,Eugene did his best to shield Rapunzel from the fall.

Bad and good luck befell them. They landed in a bush which absorbed the force of the fall. The bad news was the bush had thorns all over it. As they fell through the brambles, scrapes and cuts smarted their skin, and caught their clothes.

"See, minor details,"Eugene wheezed, the air gone from his lungs, pushed out when they came to the ground, Rapunzel on top of him.

They crawled out delicately, trying not to upset the thorns anymore than they needed. Out of the bush, the two fix each other up, brushing off their clothes, removing any twigs or thorns from their hair.

Eugene flexed his fingers and hands, wincing at the tiny cuts, "You wouldn't happen to feel like crying would you?" he said in a careless tone, offering his hands over to her. Flustered and unaware of the joke, Rapunzel's eyes actually began to turn glassy, threatening to water. Eugene mentally slapped himself across the face. He knew he was messing this all up already.

"No, don't cry, don't cry, Rapunzel!" Quickly he wrapped his arms around her to reverse the effect of his foolish words. The comfort of his embrace only made her sobs flow freely onto his vest. Her voice mumbled and groaned, not in song, but in simple lamentation.

She knew he didn't mean anything by it. She wasn't even upset because he had said it. When he asked the question, she realized she did feel like crying. Only now it had sunk in completely. It wasn't even the lies, or her secret heritage, or fact that she had let this woman run her life. It was because in all that time, she thought that Gothel had loved her it was the lie that hurt most of all, and like those thorns, had left her with a pain she had no way of healing.

Now what more could she do but succumb to shaking sobs, and spout gibberish into her companion's vest.

Eugene had never been partial to crying, he learned quickly from experience that it got you nowhere in life. But now, frankly, even though it broke his heart to see, he was somewhat relieved. At first they must have been a little distracted with their miraculous reunion, but afterwards the fact that she could go so long with this bottled up was insane. If anyone deserved a good cry right about now it was her. Though, he was not too keen on standing in the middle of the forest during this cry.

"Alright, alright," He sighed comfortingly, gently scooping her up, so she could continue her weeping, and he carried her. Her slurs became strings of words forming slightly more coherent thoughts. Strange how increasingly different this journey was becoming from their first together. She barely let on any information about her life in the tower, now she spilled every memory from that life, every instance she should have realized what was wrong. Eugene was mostly silent and listened, nodding and comforting her when appropriate.

Eventually, she fell into a slumber still in his arms, and he trekked on slowly cherishing the broken princess in his arms.

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><p>Thanks for reading stay tuned til next time! Leaving comments is always appreciated!<p> 


	6. Pasts in Comparison

Review Please!

Rapunzel's stories of her past filled Eugene with heart breaking sympathy. And yet, he admired her more. So much injustice had been imposed upon her. One would think a person locked in a tower for eighteen years would give in to insanity, or at the very least embitterment. But she remained so genuine and, despite her current woe, was optimistic for the future, so intent on beginning this new chapter of her life with her true family.

And her goodness, though he only knew the woman mere minutes, Rapunzel's keeper had certainly not imprinted any of her traits upon the girl. Perhaps there was a slight bias; the whole issue of stabbing was hard to get over. In spite of everything she still managed to remain so pure, it was a feat to him.

An even greater feat was the change she had begun in him. That was the part that made him shake his head in disbelief, how much this girl had turned his life upside down. His life ambitions had been wasted on foolish wishes to escape the world, with what he thought good reason, but she had somehow opened his eyes. All he wanted to do now was rediscover this renewed world with her.

Rapunzel's vent had also led him to remember the long silenced memories of his own past, and the more he thought about the misfortune that befell him, the more he could help but compare their two lives. Both had spent a great deal of time caged, whether it be a tower or orphanage, a prison by any other name can be just as wretched. There was a great difference in the effect these prisons had on both of them respectively. The callous nature of the orphanage pushed Eugene to become a man all too quickly, while Rapunzel was the just the opposite, a girl forced never to grow up. In that respect, perhaps it was some twisted blessing. Her tower did in some ways, save her from the world, considering all of the harsh indifference that world treated him with. But he was a lowly commoner, practically destined to face hardship, while she was a princess robbed of her title, not a fair comparison in the slightest, really.

Another topic Rapunzel's stories had brought up often was the matter of never being loved. Although, Eugene briefly pondered if she really had it that bad, at least she thought she had been loved on some level all those years, than at least she had not been miserable all that time, unlike him. After all, as he had earlier put it, "Sob Story" was the happiest way of putting his childhood. If his parents had ever cared for him at all, there was little evidence left that his mind could bring to light. His mother had disappeared from his life at the age of four, by pure choice, and now he had trouble placing her face or even her name at times. However, when his elusive mother walked out, she left him with an even fuzzier character in his memory, his father. A drunk, who picked one too many fights at the tavern, which would lead to his demise, Eugene did not so much remember the times with his father, but instead the times without him; waiting up late nights, fending for himself on the streets, and of course the dizzying time after he was gone, too. At least he could be grateful to his father for one thing-well two if you counted the whole good looks thing- and that was the ability to read. It started out small reading signs and articles that his father's chronically blurry eyes couldn't make out, then when his abilities enhanced Eugene decidedly spent his days hiding out in the local bookstores escaping further and further into imaginary lands. He continued the habit, after being officially exiled to the streets for some time after his father's final trip to the pub. He quickly became the city's nuisance, even at that age he was quick to pick up the trade of theft, but the bookstore was his sanctuary. Once apprehended by authorities, the first of many unpleasant run-ins with the law, he was sent to a "Home for Abandoned Children", an Orphanage, or whatever you want to call it, it only meant being trapped. His world turned into endless chores, dressing in rags, and the social standing of a plague victim—his gift was deemed a curse; the other kids resented him for it, thinking he thought he was better then the rest of them for it (Only when he got older did the younger children come to even somewhat appreciate Eugene's literacy, they had innocence enough to listen to what he read). His only solace was The Tales of Flynnigan Rider, a book he found one day hidden in the minimal library of his penitentiary. His favorite book became the bane of his existence, idolizing the main character; he wanted to be just like him. Seriously who wouldn't? The man was amazing! He became a decent replacement as a father figure Eugene never really had. Eugene even tried to stretch the stories to supplement the companionship of other people, after all even the most devious fictional characters were more trustworthy then any three dimensional person. For the longest time he tried to emulate Rider, he sunk deeper and deeper into his imaginary life.

He looked down onto his parcel, as if on que she revived slowly and smiled up to him. Finally, there was something worth trading every one of Flynn Rider's adventures for. Something real.

"What have I missed?" She asked glancing around the forest.

"Ah same old, same old," Eugene shrugged with a smirk, "Double rainbows, singing animals, dancing trees, the usual."

"A Double Rainbow really?"

"All the things I mention and you choose the rainbow?"

"I'm not familiar enough with animals or trees, rainbows I know. Besides, trees do dance, in the wind, and I've known Pascal to hum a tune now and again. A double rainbow sounds very impressive."

"Sure," Eugene chuckled, "How was your nap?"

"Fine, I'm feeling a lot better now, actually," she took a deep breath in to show how well rested she was.

"Good," He agreed softly, though he knew she was still holding on to some things.

"Yeah, my head is much clearer…thanks," she added bashfully.

"For what," he asked earnestly  
>"Listening to me," she confessed in a mumble, "letting me have that little break down back there."<p>

"Don't mention it," he declined the thanks graciously, "You needed that."

"I guess I'm not used to telling people things," she reasoned.

'At least she's got an excuse, not many people to tell things to in a tower. I've had the luxury of people my whole life and I still suck at it,' Eugene thought.

"But with you, I feel like I could tell everything to."

Inside he was ecstatic; no one had ever said anything like that to him. He wanted to say the same that he wanted to tell her everything and more. But all he could return was a smile that tried to explain what his words could not right now.

"Would you like to get down?" he asked simply curious if he should continue carrying her, he was actually rather enjoying it.

"Is that you wanting to put me down?"

"No, no I just want to know if you felt like walking."

"No, I fine," also content in his arms, "unless you want me to walk." She worried.

"No not at all," he tried to calm her.

"Your arms aren't tired?"

"No,"

"Yes they are, aren't they?" she voiced quite sure of herself, "You've been walking for hours, haven't you?"

"Not even an hour."

"It's alright. You can put me down. I won't be insulted."

"No," He said now simply being stubborn.

"Put me down!" She ordered this time.

"No," He replied airily, continuing to saunter haughtily, though the forest, "You see, for once you've got nothing on me." He silently considered this interesting half-truth, in theory he was right. She was in just as much trouble with authorities as he was to blackmail him with arrest, she no longer had the crown, and even if she did he didn't want it anymore. He only wanted her, which was probably an even more crippling desire, all things said and done. Besides, even before she meant anything at all to him, at least before he realized she did, she always seemed to know how to get what she wanted out of him. Usually very stubborn about taking orders, every deal she struck with him he upheld with an uncommon loyalty. Of course, the majority of the orders and deals given to him before he had known Rapunzel included a combination of the words "Halt," or "Stop" or "You are under arrest," and other such phrases of very un-agreeable terms.

Rapunzel had different opinions on this so called lack of leverage on her captor. She pulled herself up level with Eugene's face, and peck a kiss off centered at the corner of his mouth. At the contact he feet immediately stopped motion, his eyes flicked curiously from the girl in his arms, and then wisely to the lizard on his shoulder. Pascal was sleeping again, so Eugene shrugged happily and allowed her to proceed in a more accurate kiss. He switched the positions of his arms, wrapping them around her waist so her feet hung loose above the ground. Strategically, she loosened her hold around his neck sinking lower and lower, he followed her lips down as well until her feet felt grass. Softly she pulled away and grinned mischievously. Lithely, she stepped out of his embrace breaking into a run. Dumbstruck for a moment, he watched her leave his arms then chased after her in a stumble.


	7. Suck it twilight's Meadow scene!

Review Please!

Rapunzel reveled in the grass under her feet, speeding faster then ever without her hair's drag to pull her back. Eugene gained on her fairly easily and their run became a friendly race between the two of them, not caring where the finish line was. Just as one of them was sure they'd had the lead, the other one-upped them out of no where, hurtling over logs and rocks, and ducking low branches. When Eugene headed her off for the fourth time, on a down hill clearing, Rapunzel decided not to play fair, and tackled him to the ground around the middle. Already in the persuasion of gravity her move pulled Eugene down rolling in grass. They somersaulted and tumbled to the end of the incline, side by side breathless and unable to contain their delight, in the soft green of a meadow.

"Cheat!" he accused playfully.

"Says the thief," she argued back nudging his arm.

"I stole, I never sabotaged," he countered; they continued to bicker, childish and happy.

Prided with looks and strength, he always thought himself of young and active spirit, but just lying there, listening to her explode with laughter, he felt more alive then he had in years, younger then her hair could have ever managed to make him. More then giddy, better then just happy, he felt— well that was a very good question. How did he feel? This had never happened before, nor had he ever anticipated finding something as _great_ as her. And now he had, and he was stuck wondering what it meant. It had been a conundrum he grappled with ever since that moment in the mine shaft, and the first inklings of a change urged him as far as to blurt out his greatest secret, his real name, a truth he had once swore to take to his grave became main call he responded to with her. Of course he always seemed to be at her beckon and call anyways, and he loved it (Not that he would ever admit that to her). Love, a word barely inside a man like Flynn Rider's vocabulary, entered the equation, now too. Was that the answer to his question? Highly likely at this point and he wouldn't lie that he was more then hopeful that it was. But of course if this indeed proved to be something as big as love, he knew as much to dread screwing the whole thing up…. But looking at her he was willing to try.

"Eugene, I Love," she began next to him, "grass!" Rapunzel cried out writhing in the green next to him. Pascal mimicked her, rolling on his back, wiggling into the ground. He exhaled in relief, for a moment terrified she had been hiding clairvoyance from him too. He would be in far too much trouble if that were true.

"A little excited over grass don't you think?" He replied, rolling on to his side to watch her, amused by her joy.

"Not when you haven't touched grass in eighteen years," she explained energetically, curling her fingers into the roots, arching her back toward the sun. He just lay there wide eyes fixed on her silliness, a grin creeping behind the hand that he set his chin in.

"When I was little," she said calming down, inhaling the breeze, "I played with chalk a lot. I shaded in the floor green and drew little flowers and all over the place. Then I'd just sit in it, wishing so hard that it was real, sliding my feet into the floor, thinking if I hoped long enough my floor would sprout, waiting for the moment my toes would catch in it," she finished in an bashful little smile, as she flicked her eyes over at him, kicking her foot along the ground, and as she described, her toes caught in the growth, "This definitely beats chalk," she concurred.

"I'll bet, you don't have to mop up this meadow when your get off of it." He joked, standing, and held out an arm to help her up too, "Come on, We're really close."

He pulled her along swiftly; she giggled, skipping to keep up, holding his hand snugly with both of her smaller ones.


	8. Immortality

SOOO hello again! please enjoy my humble attempts to bring these characters to life

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><p>They walked a long while, sticking closely to each other; a hand always around a waist or on a shoulder, Rapunzel would only stray from Eugene's side briefly to pick a flower or two to add to the daisy chain she was creating, she leaned lightly into his side half for the comfort, and half for the balance she had yet to regain to was lost with her hair. In anycase, he was always reluctant to let her go for even the moment, but his heart flipped when she rushed back into the nook under his arm and chest. He was such a sap.<p>

"So I was thinking,"Eugenebegan nonchalantly, talking to fill time, "your tear went inside me, you think maybe-,"

"You don't have superpowers!" She cut him off loudly, amused.

"Oh come on, humor me a little, would you?" He urged.

"You think," she said for clarification, "my powers are in you now, and there for you have superpowers?" She asked deadpanned.

"Sure why not?"

"Well, because for starters, I didn't even have super powers. Mothe-Gothel used my hair long before you did and she didn't have powers, in fact I think there's something to be said about the degenerate qualities of the magic my hair had, didn't you see what happened to her when you cut my hair?"

"Don't think about that." He was sorry he even brought the subject, not thinking it would end there, "Besides there was a lot more rotten about her then her addiction to your hair."

"It's all she ever wanted of me. Why? I don't understand, who would want to actually live forever?" She continued to ponder.

"Well, couldn't you have technically?"

"I suppose, if I wanted to," She thought hard for a moment, "I don't know really, I never thought about it before, living forever didn't have much appeal stuck in a tower," She finalized trying to make a joke, a little terrified of even the idea.

"What if you were out in the real world?"Eugeneplayed devil's advocate, "Young forever, see and do everything you ever wanted. Not a bad deal," he shrugged.

"Hardly worth it," she shook her head, still, "The world can't be very interesting, if you have to be in it alone."

"True," He conceded, squeezing her shoulder, as she diligently focused on finishing her flower chain, carefully connecting the ends into a round, just as the little girls who braided her hair showed her.

"There!" she exclaimed presenting her completed project, "What do you think?"

"A temporary crown fit for a princess."

"I hope."

"You hope what?"

"I can be 'a princess fit for a crown' I guess," she said feeling cheesy, balancing the wreath on her head, "What if I don't know I'm not princess material?"

"That won't matter, if you are who you say, and being you, they'll love you, remember the Thugs in the duckling?"

"Ohh! We should stop by! Tell them everything!" Rapunzel suggested brightly, the flowers slipping slightly to one side of her pixie cut.

"Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea…"Eugenemuttered quickly, flushed and again regretting opening his mouth.

"Why not?"

"Well…Because….err," Eugene continued to falter, then an idea popped into his head, "Oh you know the guys, their never in the same place twice, besides best not stop anyhow, we've got bounties on our heads, remember, there are probably some guards hanging close to there."

"Oh, right," Rapunzel nodded in agreement, not exactly sure she understood his logic, "Do you think we will see them again?"

"Nearly certain," Eugene grimaced at the irony. It was more then keeping up the show to impress Rapunzel now. So far she had been handling the insanity she had been thrown into, fairly well, well better then anyone else Eugene could think of. Still, he wondered how well she would actually be able to handle the truth. It must have been weighing on her mind hard enough that he was putting his neck on the line for her like this, it was certainly weighing on his. To know so many other people she cared for could be in major trouble for her, might just put her over the edge. He only hoped the thugs had sense enough to make an escape plan for themselves when they sprung him. He really wasn't sure how long he could hold up the story. He took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, and smelt the faint scent of salt.

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><p>Thanks for reading stay tuned til next time! Leaving comments is always appreciated!<p> 


	9. Moment of Truth

HI! I'm back! I promise I will start posting more regularly! Just a quick question Why don't I have more reviews I like them and I know you guys don't hate the story, other wise so many of you wouldn't watch me, I guess I don't really deserve to ask anything of you anyway cause I can't even keep my promise to post every week. Well thats thats on to fun things!

Enjoy this next installment it was extremely exciting to write!

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><p>"Come over here," he said following his nose, guiding Rapunzel over with him. He sped up with ever step more, sure of himself as his hearing added to his olfactory hints, until finally pushing away some obstructing tree branches to reveal the lazy tides rolling in miniscule sets to the pebbled shore, and across the water lie the quaint island kingdom of Corona. However this time they had arrived on the shore perpendicular to the main entrance.<p>

"Well, we made it to the bay," Rapunzel said approvingly, "now we can just follow the shore to the bridge."

"No," Eugene hissed grabbing her hand and yanked back behind the bushes, focused intently on the outer edge of the kingdom. Rapunzel didn't realize it, but she was in his territory now, until they were in the palace, they were delinquents as far as the authorities were concerned, and had to get there as such. Just as he did just a week ago, he scoped the kingdom's security, he scanned and counted and calculated, "There are guards waiting along the bridge," he pointed out, some more he could make out were up in posts in the towers of the Castle, but very few seemed to have been stationed at the docks, decidedly their point of attack.

"That's the only way into the palace," Rapunzel observed, confused, "What do you want to do, swim?"

"Yeah that's an idea," Eugene nodded, "Or we could use that boat?" he pointed with a smirk. Rapunzel looked over bemused to see an abandoned boat seated for two on the beach. Rapunzel's eyebrows shot up at the strange luck, also wondering if that had been the very same canoe they had enjoyed to lanterns in just the night before, but the memories of the surroundings were too dark to tell.

"Yeah, that could work."

"Okay wait for the signal," Eugene said watching carefully for the moment to sneak into the boat. "Now, stay low."

They ducked down through the bushes, and as Rapunzel hopped into canoe, Eugene pushed it into the waves then swung into the spot across from her. He picked up the oars and rowed swiftly keeping an eye on the guards' turned backs.

Suddenly, one of the bronze clad soldiers rotated his watch on the bay.

"Oh, no, Rapunzel, pretend to kiss me," Eugene blurted out in a whisper even though they were out alone in the water.

"What?"

"Just do it."

"Why?"

"Because, I need something to hide my face, and I don't have a press-on mustache," he replied, pulling her toward him and tilting his head around to hide behind her face.

"How long do we have to stay like this?" Rapunzel asked awkwardly starring at his ear.

"Just until that guard turns around again," He said, looking to the bridge, over her shoulder stealthily. Their act seemed to have called attention from the guards anyway, the hint being the envious sigh he saw the guard give as he turned his back on the couple. Honestly, first singing thugs, now, swooning palace guards, was he the only real man left?

"Thanks," he said kissing her for real on the cheek, a token of his gratitude…okay well he was still more manly then those guys.

"Fake Mustache? Is that another one of the ploys of the Great Flynn Rider?"

"Did thekingdomofChallaarrest me?" Eugene asked smartly, picking up the oars again half way across the bay, "No they did not."

"You'll have to tell me the rest of that story sometime," Rapunzel sighed looking out over the water, "Oh!" she said in surprise, grabbing the collar of Eugene's vest repeated the position, only actually kissing him this time. They stayed like that for a few moments, more or less lost in the kiss then they parted.

"What was that for?"

"What? Someone else turned around," She said mischievously, she was definitely lying, she could probably fool her "mother", with her lack of experience, but she couldn't get him.

"Not now, okay," He said, putting his hand lightly under her chin, trying not to sound like he was scolding her, as well as not show his panic. This close to the kingdom, it was all or nothing. He was walking distance from death, and all for her sake. Not that he was resenting her for the danger; he'd died once for the girl already, on some level he was willing to do it again. On the other hand, dying for her meant nearly the same thing as living without her, so he knew he had to orchestrate this perfectly, more so then his most flawless of heists. And things as distracting as stolen kisses, would fit nowhere in his plans.

Swiftly they waded closer to the island, and into a neglected port, where the water was just a little too shallow, and rocky, for merchants' boats to dock, which Eugene knew of from a good acquaintance in the business. Rapunzel followed Eugene through the shadows and back alleys of the city, labyrinths of streets spiraling closer to the palace. The celebration from the night before still had people buzzing in the main walkways, cleaning up their business front and such. There was also a good deal of gossip concerning a wanted criminal escaping on a flying horse. They arrived just outside the castle's walls. Rapunzel's heart pounded so close to the truth, Eugene's too, for being so close to the noose. Rapunzel grabbed his hand taking to lead in the march out of the shadows, but he resisted, his integrity weakening by the moment.

"You ought to do this part alone," he said, his nerves flitting inside of him, "If I come up with you, I'll ruin you cred' you'll never see the King and Queen."

"Where will you be?"

The small sickeningly cowardly part of him hoped on a boat sailing for a distant shore, there was still time to back out of this. He was so tempted to tell her just to move on, be a princess, marry that stupid prince and forget about him, she'd realize how easy it was soon enough. He had no place with her. For god sakes, he couldn't even bring her home without creeping through shadows, she was supposed to be a princess not some street urchin like him, hell, princess or not she was too good for him, period. How could he have even thought for a second that he could clean up his act and being with her would be so simple? She was all these fantastic things he didn't even know where to begin. Surely this was a disaster waiting to happen and he would be one to cause the wreck, best not to even take the chance at all. But those eyes, those eyes that looked at him in a way he'd never known possible, with so much faith, to say goodbye to them now he could not do.

"I'll be…with you," he said nodding her on, buying time. She gave another one of those small smiles he could not resist, and turned to step into the street. No, this was wrong there was too much left unsaid; it could not be left like this.

"Rapunzel!" he cried out, she turned expectantly. He didn't know what to say now that he had her complete attention, all he could do was rush up and scoop her into a strong and snug embrace, lifting her off her feet, he held her there for just a few moments taking in her essence, and out of no where, without inflection, stated as straightforward as a truth even she could accept without further proof, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she returned grasping tighter around his neck. He thought this would feel better but somehow it only killed him just a little bit more. Unable to handle the surge of emotion, he placed her back on the ground, and let her go seek her long awaiting destiny, and he watched his future slip away.

What was he doing? He was being an idiot and he knew it. She was everything he wanted, and he was cutting himself out of her life, by choice. But his situation remained the same, she had everything going for her in this new life, and deep down he knew he didn't belong. So he was going to do what he always did when things got too hard or complicated to even try, he'd run. Far away. Regrettable it was the only trait he seemed to have picked up for his fore-mentioned muddled memory of a mother. Off to the next destination.  
>But once he'd gotten to that place, wherever it was, what would he do without Rapunzel? Even now, as he watched her figure shrink towards the guard on post, some kind of invisible force pulled longingly at his body to be at her side. He'd said it, there was no denying it now, he loved her, god he loved her. It was amazing. She was amazing! And she loved him back; she'd said it just there in his arms a moment ago. How could he deny himself this? And he had already denied himself so much for the sake of self sabotage.<p>

But he had so much to lose especially with this risk.

But all the more to gain, too.

He looked to see her again, at the grand door about to speak with the guard on duty. She shyly turned back looking directly into the alley he stood in. that was it, it didn't matter what he wanted, or what he was scared for, it was about her, and what she wanted. She wanted him. And he would be hers as long as she wanted him.

Just like that, as if his very soul had been transferred invisibly from his body into her permanent possession, all its weight lifted, and knowing it belonged to her he had all the confidence in the world to pursue his heart's desire, and it was her now and forever. His feet were finally free to move.

They strode forward. Intensely and with purpose, that force like a magnet accelerated his motion. Every step swelling his chest with security that he had just dodged the biggest mistake of his life, and was rushing headlong into making the greatest dream all come true.


	10. Stupid Trellis

HI! I'm back! I'm just going to stop making promises cause frankly I just can't seem to keep them!

Well enjoy this next bit sorry it's been so long!

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><p>Meticulously quick Eugene snuck past the palace walls and skirted behind shrubbery all the way to the main entrance where Rapunzel stood at now, awkwardly trying to begin conversing with the guard on duty. It was understandable that she was nervous; she hadn't talked to many people yet, not to mention how does one tell a person they are a princess? Something must have caught her eye, because her head swiveled in his direction and she immediately found his hiding spot. Her tentative grimace morphed into a beaming grin to see him. He silently chuckled then nudged his head subtly to the blissfully unaware guard. Promptly she turned back to her target, and finally chose her opening line.<p>

"Hi," she said loudly, with a jumpy smile.

"Hi," the guard returned uncertainly, caught (pardon the expression) off his that it must have been some fantastic luck that they arrived while this poor idiot was on post. He was just as young and just as inexperienced as Rapunzel, it looked as if this was the first time a pretty girl had ever approached him, let alone spoken to him too.

"Hi," Rapunzel repeated, having exhausted all of her conversation techniques, short of using her frying pan that is.

"Hi," the guard wasn't complaining, it seemed. Rapunzel shot her gaze back at Eugene pleading for help. Through the bushes he urged her to just say anything she had this guy in her pocket practically.

"So can I talk to the Queen and King?" She said quickly, perhaps she could have put it a bit more delicately, but again it was just their luck that it was this kid they were dealing with.

"I-um-yea- why?"

"I think I'm—their daughter…" she blurted out.

"The princess?" the guard's voice gave an adolescent crack on the last syllable.

"Yes,"

"Oh, I um, oh!" he stuttered out before running for high heavens.

When he was gone, Rapunzel shuffled closer to the topography, and whispered, "Was that a good thing?"

"I don't know…." Eugene responded equally confused, stretching his head out of the bushes to get a better view of where the boy ran off to, "I think so…these guys are pretty skittish anyway."

"Miss," Another guard was suddenly approaching Rapunzel, this one looking a bit more seasoned and at ease speaking, "Please follow me."

She must have looked like the biggest freak to this guard, looking longingly behind her to the bushes, before obliging to go with her with his eyes, hoping that guard was not leading her to the dungeons for being as bold as to impersonate a princess. Surely others had tried to claim the crown in the past, not that he knew the punishment for such a crime. Thankfully Rapunzel was lead inside the castle; Eugene hurried to keep her in sight

From his memory of the castle's schematic he understood that she was being taken to the balcony at the head of the palace. He also knew there a trellis that grew up the side of that balcony.

Rapunzel stood and waited on the balcony, eyes busily following the buzz of the city below. She saw the center square and thought about the day before, she had been down there, dancing wild and free for the first time in her life, content with dreams of lanterns. Now she stood well above it all, a princess, heir to the magnificence of the city. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd be standing here preparing for such an event that was about to happen, all she had wanted was to see the lights, and she had been given so much more, could she handle it all? She wished with all her heart that she could forget the things Gothel had said to her, that she was all wrong, but still the tiny voice of criticism popped in and out of her head repeating words of discouragement. A slap of a hand on marble broke her thoughts, and so startled she jumped expecting to see someone there with her. She turned quickly behind her to find no one.

"Blondie!" a horse but exceedingly familiar voice called out to her.

"Eugene?" she answered looking for him.

"Here," he called again, and there he was, trying to clamber over the ledge of the balcony.

"Eugene!" she rushed to his well needed aide. She tugged him over the edge by the bottom of his vest, and he slide over the banister, and collapsed on top of her.

"That trellis is a piece of work," He huffed, scrambling a bit to get off of her and slumping onto the floor instead, "I've been spoiled, your tower was a piece of cake compared to that."

"Aww," she let out, her voice caught between a gush and a chuckle, sweeping his unruly hair out of his eyes, then helped him stand up to lead him back to the center of the balcony, "Come on, they're coming."

"Hey do you think we should have changed clothes?" Eugene asked as she pulled him along, carelessly examining their clothes. He had a point, Rapunzel hadn't thought about it before. Though very clean, in the tower she had never been horribly opposed to wearing the same clothes a couple day's in a row, but she was realizing the lapse in her logic now after being out running through dirt and grass, for three days. Her silken pastel dress was wrinkled, and the hem line was significantly 's attire wasn't much better, his white shirt was definitely more of yellowy beige now, and still had a maroon stain over his near fatal wound. His already faded blue vest had a hole in it, and one of his pant legs was curiously sopping wet. When they returned to Rapunzel's starting spot, she glanced down and noticed a fountain under the trellis on the wall, "well that was that," she thought with a smirk.

"Wow," Eugene said softly, looking out over the view he had gotten so used to, "Look at that." He sighed, leaning on to the banister.

"Yeah, it's something isn't it?" Rapunzel said copying him.

"It's yours," he corrected, mischievously.

"Yeah," she said breathlessly, in realization, the nerves setting in again, "I guess so."

"How are you feeling?" he asked in earnest, catching her uncertainty.

"Good," she tried at first, "anxious," she attempted again, "Petrified."

"What's the matter?" Eugene asked.

"Oh, a lot of things," she started, placing Pascal off her shoulder and onto the railing of the balcony her words began to spew out at an accelerating pace, "I'm meeting these people who were supposed to raise me, they must be expecting so much and they're just getting me, and now that you've brought it up, our clothes are all kinds of gross, and maybe we should go back to the tower, I'll make some new ones-"

"Slow down a second," Eugene stopped her, stuck on her previous point, "Run that by me again?"

"Clothes," she said, thinking she could change the subject, "I've been making mine all my life, made this dress," she rambled on, "I've never made pants before, but they look pretty easy, and the shirt too, maybe even the vest," she was laughing frantically now, and then began mumbling measurements "I've got plenty of material, I could do it a week or ten.."

"Rapunzel! what's going on?" He had to end her tangent finally, grabbing her shoulders. Her breath was ragged, and scared.

"I don't want to do this," She blurted out shaking, "Let go back, better yet let's leave," her eyes big with a plan, "Come on, down the trellis, through the gates and out to sea! Like we were never even here!"

"First of all there's no way I'm touching that trellis again," Eugene said flatly, "Rapunzel, what's gotten into you? I'd expect this kind of thing from me, but never you."

"It's just too much, I can't do this, what if they don't want me?"

"They will," He said soothingly.

"How do you know?"

"How do you know they won't?" He countered.

"Well why would they?" she said, "I'm not a princess."

"Oh, but you are!" he said grandly gesturing at the palace they stood at, she laughed without mirth, the sound unfitting in her usually melodic voice. "You're going to be fine." He said in a genuine voice.

"How do you know?" She asked again, urging him for an explanation, logic of any kind. She was hunched in defeat leaning over the ledge.

"Because once, I felt exactly the same way," He said going her eye level, "I stopped being myself a long time ago, because, frankly, I thought it sucked being me. And then," He continued in an amused, but pointed air, "I met this girl, who, for some reason beyond my comprehension, thought the world of me. And for the first time ever," His narrative tone wore into a whisper as honest as a confession, "I felt like I was fine. I felt like I was enough, just me, for her." He craned his neck over, to search her eyes, to see if the message had stuck yet, "Now, I can't believe that she, of all people, can't even give herself half as much faith in herself that she has in me." She stood tall again, her finger tips lightly grazing the marble banister.

"Do you believe in her?"

"Absolutely," he answered smiling at the quasi third person they were speaking in. His callused hands smoothed her cropped hair to the sides of her head, and he kissed her on the forehead.

"Then as long as you're here she'll be fine." Taking one of his hands into hers, she conceded finally, with a relieved exhale, looking back out over the island. They stood contently for a moment suddenly the creak of the large oak doors behind them opened.

* * *

><p>Hopeful I've got the next one coming soon, if not please just hold tight till i do!<p> 


	11. Just go AWWWWWWWWW you know you want to

Review Please!

The morning after was always the worst. At least the festival brought back the joy of the princess' birth, but the next day was only ever filled with a dull depression of loss. Distracted by unfulfilled dreams the Queen and King of Corona appreciated a light work load on that day. They enjoyed each others' company as they always did, waiting for the rain clouds in their heads to pass, as the sun shone brightly just beyond the window they found themselves gazing out of. They longed to be able to talk merrily of the gorgeous celebration of the night before, just as the commoners below did, but they could never find the courage in them. They cooped themselves up, sometimes the library, sometimes the king's study, sometimes even their own bedroom though it was quite unbecoming of a country's rulers to spend even the more disheartening day in their nightclothes. This year, it was the library where they spent their day in exile. Queen Leanora was staring intently into the pages of some book she had already forgotten the title of, wishing desperately to lose herself in the story, but instead her stubborn eyes insisted on blending the words into smeared lines, only able to discern the ones that would remind her of what day it was. Henric, looking out the window, had given up completely trying to distract himself. At his wife's side he stood lost in a day dream of a face he may never see again. To the naïve eye it might have looked peaceful.

That was until an eager beaver of a guard bounded into the room. They were used to these interruptions in the day. Their guards were notoriously skittish. They looked up casually expecting an announcement of one matter or another, perhaps the recapturing of that thief, Flynn Rider. They knew he had been caught the night before, apprehended while making a get away on a boat, or something like that. They had been both relieved and disgruntled upon the morning news that he escaped again. On one hand this man had been a nuisance to the city since day one, the final straw being his latest heist, the only article of their daughter, her crown, taken the day before the monumental ceremony, honestly the nerve. On the other hand however, attending a hanging, today of all days was hardly the cure for their melancholy. Besides, they had the crown back, that's all they really wanted anymore, but that captain of the guards was indeed out for blood.

The squirrelly chap before them, Andrew, was panting with excitement. He nodded, and gasped out, "The Princess!"  
>The royal couple looked at each other communicating with their eyes. Could it be? It had been such a long time since someone had come to prove themselves to be the princess. And an even longer time since one was bold enough to arrive the so soon the day after the festival. Initially after the kidnapping many from far and wide came claiming they had found the correct baby, so many little girls were paraded before them, even one rather convincing little boy. For one reason or another, each child was turned down, the parents of the impostors were simply turned away, they were not punished; the Royals understood their motives, what mother would pass up the chance to give their child the life of a princess?<p>

But as time wore on, few and fewer honest candidates came their way. Con artists looking for a quick pay off and young little actresses conspired together to fool them. Not many succeeded for long, a conversation with one of the alleged princesses revealed something that did not agree with the truth. This dishonesty was punished; exile cooled the hot nerve of the criminals. So it had been a decent amount of time since their last encounter with a prospective princess, and with all the years since her disappearance it had often been disputed how they would even know the true princess if they saw her, but something inside both the King and Queen's hearts swelled at Andrew's news, it told them this time, yes this one, and simultaneously they trusted it. Leanora set aside her book and took her Husband's hand, following the young guard, their pace because swifter with each step.

They pushed open the doors leading out to the parapet, in the afternoon sun she was shining, even as her silhouette faced away from them. She turned tentatively, and they saw her more clearly. At first sight, she was certainly no one's idea a princess. She was petite, and her dress was somewhat askew and dirty, her bare feet and oddly styled short brown hair finished off her unkempt appearance. But many encounters before had proved looks to be deceiving.

Henric watched as his wife stepped forward, un-phased by the brown hair. In the past children with lighter hair had been turned down yet this young lady was entrancing. There was an undeniable essence that lit her face, a curious need and longing which matched that of the Queen's countenance, which no actress could recreate. The Queen faltered reaching a hand up to touch the girl's cheek. She heaved a sob into a laugh and the girl did the same. Then before what she knew what was happening the Queen had enveloped her daughter into a tight hug.

Henric stepped up behind the reunion. The girl looked up from her mother's shoulder, and in that instant, there was no shadow of a doubt in the world she was the one. Those eyes, his wife's eyes, the eyes he'd looked into everyday for over twenty years, were there set so perfectly into that innocent and hopeful face. He laughed out in rejoice, and took his place on his daughter's other side, embracing them both. Their happiness was too much to bear, the three knelt together and nestled together, a family finally completed.


End file.
